Xander strode away from the battlefield with Deion in tow. They would find their friends and he would help them. He would teach them how to push that poisonous snake of a woman out of their minds.
As he walked, he struggled not to glance one last time at the destruction he left behind. He just couldn't let himself look, else he would lose all faith in himself. In his humanity. He may no longer be mortal, nor the man he once was, but he was still human. And he was going to make damn sure it stayed that way.
Chapter two
The Young Incantrix
1874
Adriana
The gentle summer breeze blew through the trees, rustling the leaves and sending Adriana’s hair dancing. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, relishing the feeling of the cool wind against her skin under the hot sun.
She’d rushed outside as soon as her governess had left the room. She had no interest in sitting in the small classroom inside her family home, learning how to be a lady. She did not care for the formalities of society or the expectations of her as she would grow to become a woman. She needed to be outside, to feel her connection to the wind and the earth. This was where she belonged.
Adriana was only twelve years old, and yet her father, Lord Sebastian Clarke, wanted to plan her entire future for her already. He was her only remaining parent after her mother, Lucia, had lost her life during childbirth. And Adriana looked the very replica of her mother, with her greyish-blue eyes, dark blonde hair, and pale skin with a rosy complexion. Though, Adriana never felt as beautiful as the photos of Lucia, and she detested being compared to a woman she had never met, a woman whose death she felt responsible for.
She knew her mother had been the perfect lady of the house, something her father and the staff seemed to enjoy reminding her every day. As if that would persuade her to aim for such achievements. If anything, it spurred her on to follow the opposite path to what had been laid before her. She wanted to live her own life, be her own person.
Sebastian only wanted the best for her. He knew that she was special, not just because she was the daughter of a lord, but because of her gifts. He knew she had to be protected from the cruelty of men who would exploit her powers. Her great-grandmother, Striga Amara, was much more understanding. She understood Adriana’s love of the outdoors, she understood why she always felt at peace when she was surrounded by nature. They both shared a special connection to the world they lived in, to the elements of nature, to the power that flowed in their veins.
They were Incantrices.
Striga had watched her daughter and granddaughter live and die without showing any sign of the abilities she hoped to pass down. She had thought her powers would die with her, until her great-granddaughter, little Adriana, was born. According to Striga, she had been a small bundle of raw energy wrapped up in a blood-stained blanket—the blood of her dear, poor mother, too weak to give birth to such a powerful being. Striga had once toldher that she’d known, even before she saw the faint outline of the marking on her back as a newborn, that Adriana would continue her Incantrix bloodline.
Striga and Thomas, her great-grandfather, would tell her stories of Daemonium, including the powers of Lamiae, Incantrices and Lupi. Whilst some believed Daemons were mere fairytales, told to children to scare them into obeying their parents or provide them with the most wonderful dreams, Adriana knew the truth behind the fairytales. Her great-grandparents were living proof of such creatures. Striga was one of the first Incantrices, and Thomas was the first Lupus to walk this world.
Daemons did not scare her, and so the scary stories about Daemonium the children in the nearby village shared did not frighten her either. What concerned her was weakness. She did not want to be weak, she wanted to be as powerful as her great-grandmother, to wield the elements as she could. But she had never been able to, no matter how hard she had tried, she had never even been able to direct the wind or flicker the light of a candle.
Adriana stopped running through the gardens to catch her breath. She could feel the sun warming her skin, hear the birds singing, smell the flowers in the air, and she felt her spirits lift. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, savouring the feeling of being outside that stuffy room with her governess.
She could feel the earth beneath her feet, the grass tickling her toes. That intense feeling of power thrumming from the ground called to her, beckoning her to master it, to be at one with the elements. Her gaze landed on a small white flower that sat in the earth a few feet away from her, its petals still wrapped around itself, as if hiding its true self from the world. Adriana knew how that felt.
Please, just listen to me, she thought as she tried to project her thoughts of the flower growing into full bloom.You can be so much more, we can be so much more.
Nothing.
She sighed, and stepped over the flower to continue her walk across the garden, towards the sound of running water from the fountain that sat in the middle of the path. She watched the water cascading over the white stone, and it seemed to sparkle in the sunlight.
Adriana held onto the basin of the fountain and peered over to look at her reflection in the water. She’d never liked looking at herself, her reflection always left her feeling disappointed. She scowled back at her grumpy face, before splashing the surface of the water in frustration and turning away.
As she took a step away from the fountain, she felt a cold stream of water hit the top of her head. She looked up at the sky, suspecting the start of light rain, but found not a single cloud in sight. Looking around, she wondered if perhaps the stable boy, Jonathon, was challenging her to a water fight again, but there was no one else in the gardens.
Another stream of water landed on her shoulder, similar to the way someone would gently try to gain her attention. She turned to the fountain again and noticed the streams of water bend towards her before they continued their journey, falling down into the basin. She perched herself over the edge again, looking at the ripples where her confused reflection stared back at her, before a burst of water leapt up and splashed her in the face.
She stumbled back, coughing and spluttering as she wiped the water from her face, watching the fountain with confusion. She approached again, slowly, and extended her hand towards it. As her fingers touched one of the streams, she felt a strange sensation running through her hand, which slowly spread throughout her body. It was as if the water was alive, and it wasresponding to her touch. As she pulled her hand away, the water followed her movements, mirroring her actions.
Adriana was amazed, she had never done anything like this before. She knew she was an Incantrix, the branding down her back representing the power of the moon cycle marked her as such, but she had never displayed any powers to evidence her inherited abilities.
Decided to experiment with the water, she moved it in different directions, making it jump out of the fountain and swirl around her. She laughed as she twirled around the garden, the water dancing around her as she skipped over the flowers. It felt incredible.
“I see you’ve mastered the water, Adriana,” a soft voice called across the garden.
Adriana stopped spinning, the water falling around her with a splatter, soaking into her sundress. Striga stood beyond the flowerbeds, watching with a proud look on her face.
“Perhaps not mastered yet, then,” Striga laughed as she took in Adriana’s appearance: hair stuck to her face and dress completely soaked through. “No matter, we will work on this together. But you must be careful with this one, it can be dangerous if not controlled.”
“But, how can water be dangerous?” Adriana pouted in confusion.
